Police searching for thieves who broke into Austin pharmacies

AUSTIN, Texas - Austin police are looking for thieves who broke into an two Austin pharmacies overnight. The group was caught on camera having not much luck finding what they were looking for and leaving with very little.

It was a busy night for a group in blue sweatshirts. The first stop was at the Peoples Pharmacy Lakeline location at 183 and 620. It was about 1:30 a.m. on March 19, and video showed them trying to pry open the front door.

"They had a crow bar and a sledgehammer, and they just went after the door for a minute and a half, and they were able to bend it and get it out of shape," Peoples Pharmacy CEO Stephen Erickson said.

They couldn’t get it open, and they eventually gave up. They then headed about 20 miles south to the Peoples Pharmacy location on South Lamar. This time they did get inside.

"Spent about 3 to 4 minutes running around in the store checking the cash registers, pulling all the change out of there, we don’t keep any money in our stores overnight," Erickson said.

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They are seen on video rummaging through the bottles behind the counter and at one point using a couple of crow bars to try to open the safe.

"We’re required under regulations to keep all of our controlled substances locked away in a vault, and there’s no way they could get into that," Erickson said.

They didn’t leave with much.

"As far as we can tell, all they got away with was a bottle of antibiotics and a bottle of diuretics," Erickson said. "The money they spent on gas driving between the stores cost them a lot more than what they got away with."

Police arrived about 20 minutes later.

"Grateful for that response, but had they been able to show up 2 or 3 minutes after the alarm went off, we believe their car was parked right here in the parking lot, they could have pulled in and blocked the car in and hopefully apprehended the suspects," Erickson said.

Peoples Pharmacy is now left with damage.

"Physically, we’ve got to figure out how to secure doors and replace equipment," Erickson said. "Emotionally, it’s hard for employees because they come into the store and feel like their space has been violated."

Unfortunately, Erickson said this isn’t the first time they’ve been hit by burglars. In the past two years, Erickson said they’ve had four or five break-ins.

If you have any information to help with this investigation, call the Austin Police Department.